The Olive-Egger thread!

[fatcatx]

I was hoping someone could clarify some conflicting info I’ve found on different poultry sites. On the F1 and F2 cross, do 100% of the pullets lay some sort of olive/green egg or is it 50/50 brown?

I have a mix of hatching eggs. Some are Marans over Legbars, others are the offspring crossed back to Marans and Legbars.

 

[kellybea73]

I incubated 4 eggs from my Blue Marans Rooster and my EE. I had 2 eggs hatch. They are 3 weeks old today. The look like twins. Mostly black with yellow bellies. Can't wait to find out what they are and what they will look like.


They are 2 black ones up front. The other 3 small chicks are from Jed (blue marans) and either RIR, BLRW or Black Marans. Two have feathered legs.

 

[ronott1]

I incubated 4 eggs from my Blue Marans Rooster and my EE. I had 2 eggs hatch. They are 3 weeks old today. The look like twins. Mostly black with yellow bellies. Can't wait to find out what they are and what they will look like.


They are 2 black ones up front. The other 3 small chicks are from Jed (blue marans) and either RIR, BLRW or Black Marans. Two have feathered legs.

If you post a picture of the comb and wattles, we might be able to tell gender for you.

 

[morbius18]

I was hoping someone could clarify some conflicting info I’ve found on different poultry sites.  On the F1 and F2 cross, do 100% of the pullets lay some sort of olive/green egg or is it 50/50 brown?

I have a mix of hatching eggs.  Some are Marans over Legbars, others are the offspring crossed back to Marans and Legbars. 

In order to get olive, you need one blue gene and one brown gene.

If crossing two olive eggers, you should get 25% blue, 25% brown, and 50% olive.

If crossing 1 olive egger to a brown layer, you get 50% olive and 50% brown.

If crossing one olive egger to a blue layer, you get 50% olive and 50% blue.

So they don't breed true to egg color.

 

[chickengr]

In order to get olive, you need one blue gene and one brown gene.

If crossing two olive eggers, you should get 25% blue, 25% brown, and 50% olive.

If crossing 1 olive egger to a brown layer, you get 50% olive and 50% brown.

If crossing one olive egger to a blue layer, you get 50% olive and 50% blue.

So they don't breed true to egg color.

can you help me understand this:

I would like to have avocado skin coloured eggs but I don't understand how to get it.

 

[morbius18]

can you help me understand this: I would like to have avocado skin coloured eggs but I don't understand how to get it.

Basically you breed an olive egger batch. Hens are easy to tell what egg color they carry. Roosters with pea combs should carry blue or green. These would be your F1s if you used parent stock with 2 blue genes, ie Ameraucana or cream legbars. Some easter eggers 'might ' carry 2 copies. The chart says to breed the F1s to the F1s to get the carrier of blue an dark. This would be your F2s. This is where the chart looses me. Olives are created by a blue shell which goes all the way through the shell and a dark 'coating'. But the brown colors are controlled by 12 or so genes. If the gene is passed to the green laying f2s along with the browns, then it is theoretically possible to have true breeding olive eggers. I've not done it and I dont know if someone else has. If the brown gene resides in the same place as the blue, you can only have olive with 1 brown and 1 blue combined. There is no olive/olive that can be passed to the offspring. It would be Blue/brown which combine to make olive. But half the offspring will inherit 1 blue and 1 brown gene. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in.

 

[kellybea73]

If you post a picture of the comb and wattles, we might be able to tell gender for you.

Best I could get...
they are only 3.5 weeks old

 

[morbius18]

Best I could get...
they are only 3.5 weeks old

The two black ones appear to be males, although it is kinda hard to see in the pic.

Here are 3 of mine at almost 4 weeks.
Cockeral:

Cockeral

Pullet

 

[fatcatx]

In order to get olive, you need one blue gene and one brown gene.

If crossing two olive eggers, you should get 25% blue, 25% brown, and 50% olive.

If crossing 1 olive egger to a brown layer, you get 50% olive and 50% brown.

If crossing one olive egger to a blue layer, you get 50% olive and 50% blue.

So they don't breed true to egg color.

Thank you for info! So was I incorrect that the initial cross of brown and blue layers will produce half olive and half brown layers? If I worked the genetic grid right, it looks like they would all get both genes so 100% olive eggs?

 

[laurianne]

7 week old BCM x EE
Hen or Roo?